Speaker Richard Corcoran and the Florida House are going to do what they've got to do, I know that. And, Lord knows, I like a lot of what they do. But kill Visit Florida? Please reconsider, ladies and gentlemen.
After 10 Glorious Years, Sunshine State News and I Are Passing the Baton
You probably can't imagine how much fun I've had at Sunshine State News over the last 10 years. I don't think anybody could.
November 1, 2019 - 6:00am
Politics
Columns
Farming has been my family’s business for many generations. My family began tilling the land in what is now Glades County back in 1918. For nearly 100 years we survived every type of disaster God and Mother Nature could throw at us -- hurricanes, the Great Depression, and family deaths. But now, in 2017, our family’s heritage and our way of life faces extinction.
CORRECTED TO FIX COST OF SOLAR: Unfair pricing and the absence of a free market for all of Florida's renewable electricity generation have biomass technologies in a steep decline.
As in most states across America, small businesses form the backbone of the Sunshine State’s economy, and account for the majority of our job creators. Hard work, dedication, and long-term planning are the foundational keys to success. So is having a responsive, attentive ally in the U.S. Congress like Florida’s own Bill Nelson, a senior member of the U.S. Senate’s Committee on Finance, which exercises oversight of our nation’s tax code. At a time when Congress appears poised to achieve first-in-a-generation, bipartisan, comprehensive tax reform that lowers the rate, simplifies regulations and treats all industries fairly, we are hopeful for Senator Nelson’s leadership on this issue.
Gov. Rick Scott is attacking state House members who voted last week for a bill to eliminate failing corporate welfare programs like Enterprise Florida. It is hard to believe but Scott is going to the representatives’ districts and publicly attacking them for standing on free market principles. Of course, the governor claims he is on a “jobs” tour to promote his failed economic incentive programs but, coincidentally, his schedule puts him in the districts of the representatives whom he has targeted for revenge.
In 2000, I was proud to be part of the historic development of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan, which brought together Republicans, Democrats, environmentalists, scientists, and agricultural advocates to develop one of the most extensive plans to save any watershed on the planet.
While the Florida Legislature talks about blowing billions of dollars on land in the Everglades, the reptilian elephant in the room continues to prosper, undeterred in those same Everglades.
Plenty of elected officials have served longer and noisier than Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater, but few have done so at every level of government with as much integrity and character.
Stupid but legal. Such is the Trump administration's travel ban for people from seven Muslim countries. Of course, as with almost everything in American life, what should be a policy or even a moral issue becomes a legal one. The judicial challenge should have been given short shrift, since the presidential grant of authority to exclude the entry of aliens is extremely wide and statutorily clear. The judge who issued the temporary restraining order never even made a case for its illegality.
A Jacksonville Human Rights Ordinance (HRO) -- a City Council proposal that would expand anti-discrimination protections to the LGBT community for housing, employment, and public accommodations -- is not, by nature, based on an accurate understanding of human rights violations.
Trending Now
By Kevin Derby
As the Obama administration, led by U.S. Sec. of State John Kerry, reopened the American embassy in Cuba on Friday, U.S. Rep. Carlos Curbelo, R-Fla., pushed back, insisting normalization has hurt efforts against the Castor regime.
By Kevin Derby
The Florida Chamber of Commerce is expanding considerably, bringing on four new staffers.
By Kevin Derby
Running in the Republican primary to replace U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., U.S. Rep. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., slammed the Obama administration’s Cuba policy even as U.S. Sec. of State John Kerry is scheduled to reopen the embassy in Havana on Friday.
By Kevin Derby
Americans for Prosperity’s (AFP) Florida chapter cheered state Attorney General Pam Bondi for leading a coalition of 17 states against the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) rules on power plant emissions. Earlier this week, Bondi filed a petition with a federal court in Washington, D.C. against the rules.
By Kevin Derby
With U.S. Sec. of State John Kerry raising the flag at the American embassy in Havana on Friday, U.S. Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, R-Fla., called out the Obama administration for not inviting opponents of the Castro regime to the ceremony.
By Kevin Derby
On Thursday, Florida Secretary of State Ken Detzner announced sites across the Sunshine State have been added to the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places.
By Kevin Derby
With the Obama administration trying to close prison facilities at Guantanamo Bay which hold terrorists, U.S. Rep. David Jolly, R-Fla., is pushing back.
By Kevin Derby
On Thursday, U.S. Rep. Gwen Graham, D-Fla., offered her take on a recent meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and showcased her legislation bolstering that nation‘s defenses against tunnel attacks increasingly used by terrorists.
By Kevin Derby
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) personnel visited the Tampa Bay region on Thursday as the federal government ponders declaring it a disaster area due to flooding.
By Kevin Derby
U.S. Sec. of State John Kerry will be in Havana on Friday to raise the flag as the American embassy opens. That doesn’t sit well with U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla., one of the leading congressional Republicans when it comes to foreign affairs.
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